“Once upon a time school band was something done by school teachers whenever you were lucky enough to have talent and instruments, you got a great school band,” Hitunez Music Tuition director Natalie Keft said.

However, outside of the cities, these students were rarely able to perform as part of an orchestra of any size, which can be a very motivating experience for a young student of music.

Students from eight different primary schools, all participating in the Hitunez Music Tuition in-school band program, have joined together to form the Hitunez Kids Orchestra.

As their major annual performance with Coffs Harbour City Orchestra is next week, the 80 students have been getting together during school hours for rehearsals as an orchestra.

The students are drawn from a number of local primary schools; Narranga, Tyalla, Kororo, Sawtell, Boambee, Urunga, Mary Help of Christians and St Francis Xavier.

Among the students participating from Narranga Primary School is flamboyant guitarist Ethan Berends, in his first year with the Hitunez program.

“You get to do performances and it’s a lot of fun,” Ethan said.

Natalie said: “It’s about providing inspiration for them and giving them experience and motivating them to practice.”

She said students learning music was “building self esteem; nurturing them not just musically, but teaching them if you persevere you can succeed”.

Hitunez Kids Orchestra will perform with the Coffs Harbour City Orchestra at Coffs Harbour Racing Club at two different times on Thursday, September 24.

School children will be travelling on excursions to the matinee performance at 1.30pm and the evening performance at 7pm will enable some working parents to see their children perform for the first time.

Tickets will be available at the door for $5 for adults and $2 for children.